Judge's horror at drunk driver caught veering all over the road

Published: 24 Sep 2012 08:36

A judge has spoken of his horror at the thought of what might have happened if a drunken driver who was clipping the grass verges on either side of a road had met someone coming in the opposite direction.

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District Judge Liam McNally had heard that 46-year-old Trevor Wilson, of Tiralton, Tempo, was over three times the legal alcohol limit.

He said he factoring in Wilson's clear record and plea at the first opportunity in fining him £350 and banning him from driving for 15 months.

A prosecutor told Fermanagh Court that at 1.15am on Saturday, September 1, police came up behind a Vauxhall Astra travelling along the Tempo Road at 10 to 15mph and veering from side to side. They followed it for a mile until it turned off on to the Tiralton Road, where it clipped the grass verge on one side and then the other. They stopped the car and spoke to Wilson, whose speech was so slurred, he couldn't answer their questions. He was asked to get out of the car, holding on to the vehicle to stop himself falling over. A sample of his breath produced an alcohol reading of 113 - more than three times the legal limit of 35.

Defence solicitor, Mr. Bernard Corrigan, asked the District Judge to consider a letter from Wilson's employer, adding that it was far from clear if he would be able to hold on to his job after losing his licence.

Mr. Corrigan said Wilson had been in a pub in Tempo and had tried unsuccessfully to get a taxi and then foolishly decided to drive the 1.5 miles home.